Knot tying mechanism



' Nav'. 23, 194s.

Filed Jan. 25, 1945 R. L. DAsHEw 2,454,689

KNOT TYING MECHANISM @www l Ross/rr L. ns/ffw, ofc-4.52, er

fr@ im R. l..4 D AsHEw I KNOT TYING MECHANISM Nov. 23, 1948.

Filed Jan. 25',l 1945 8 Sheena-Shea?. 2

Nov.. 23, 1948. R. L. DAsHEw KNOT TYING MECHANISM 8 Sheetsheerbv 3 Filed Jan. 25, 1945 R. L. DAsHEw mm TYING MEGHANISM 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 l Filed Jan. 25, 1945 Nov. 23, 1948. R. l.. DAsHEw KNOT TYINGl MECHANISM 8 She'ets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 25, 1945 Nv.23,194s. f R. l.. DASHEW- l 2,454,689

KNo'r TYING MECHAMSM" l FiledlJan. 25, 1945 8 sheets-sheet s Patented Nov. 23, 1948 3.454,6@ Knorr TYING MECHANIsM when? L.' Dashew, sleceaseilflete et Met.. br uth l. 12e-shew, @miei-.Stm

Perth .Pe

Application January 25, 1945,y Serial No. 5524.523,

@his intention relates knetters 0r kunt. tying, mechanisms.

@ne .Object .0f the int/entitle is to. prmfide e knot.n ter mechanism White will tie substantially a new knot.

mother .Obiet 0f the invention is te. prerige. a knetter meehenism which Will tie at knot in one 01 more leneth 0f e. Certi, thread .0r Stensi.

A further object .Gf the invention to provide tt kntter wherein 0.11.@ or mere lengths @f the thread Ur @amat-1t. t0 be knetted. is .erfieeeed by a pair of pivotellr associated jews to first form a loop in the lttment .ef-ter which the emette@ en@ grip the filament et another point and the lament so manipulated es tg pull the gripped portion .there/ttf thftqilgh .the 109m p0rtion thereof.

A Still .further Qbiett. Qi the inventen tp. Simpify the meenemen; for .Cantine the gripped portion of the filament to be pulled through the looped portion thereof. More jspeeifielly, the fila-meet 01 thread te be knotted is. Wrapped @foune me U'W jaws .t0 'form @100.9 and aan?? mit fila-mf??? or thread has been gripped br .the i. .S et e peint remitted from Sei@ 199D., .the 10.91 is pushed eff. of the jews While the letter sti-ll retgtin their grip on the iement so that the gripped portion of the @lement is caused t@ be passed. temen the 10m? during the. ,temete @i the latter me tte With'these and other objects in View, the in; Veml'l Consists in @6555.319 tetfls Q QQS'WCZQ! end oombinet'ions and arrangements of perts, all as will herelifl" D? mQe 3.41.15 (,b@ 91151 the nevel features thereof pertiouilarly ppinted out in the appended claims.

the aeeomparnying drawings? Figure l shows the present knetter` meelienisni adapted to what is termed a thread merkel# mech-ine, this View being e. side ,elet/@tion with tige bese and a portion of vtine operating lever shown l in section;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional View on the line 2:12 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional View tellen ign,- gitedinelly of the needle support;

Fig. 4 is a top plan. view of the niaohine bese, on e. smaller scale, with the top Well of .the pase broker-1 erts/ar for the entete@ eilleetretme whet will be termed the normal positions of the seyerel mtumenfltes 0f the kn-Qter .and its @Qllg mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top Niets; of the base with the upper'weil broker-i @Way illustrating .what will Vlee termed the first poeiton occilpeei by the lnglffg .tQaHSm 'in t??? {Qlg Slgf Zeng. l? i5? a. @Wk geit et Eigs ll:

. meetelt be rem .ved from te@ @Otter .let .1S e .streitet ew i, tltrateg the keet immediately efteritis freed from the jaws ef knetter;

2.5 Fte te is e tette! stetige@ ee tee me lti-.itotrig e wie@ eteeet new tiet .line Writ ef Fie. 1.5i A A' me; '17 is a View .Similet te .Eiglv illustletine were er lees d gtereeietitelit" the est ef. te@ Rreteritkeottt, @teilte eekeee tiene .reeehlee- Fie 181s e detail talee viert e? @et eertien oftbepetkeeetyihg .me mettete: mi'

.Fie t9 eefseeetiv 36W' Qi e meeieed 1501@ Qt' eieetet'elete .It is tt te" .ederstoqd the; tee @rettet ieee-tte be utilized 1111. .fettine leets in tweede .cette Qt .stemde eiteeue te? teme feeding element .ted te@ .fe Wing @er ser' een .merely .for eefpeee' ef sperme??? eee are use@ ieterheegeeblr te eesienatt eey type Q f .tttreee @Streets er the lit@- Tee @teste-t knetter .is .also eeeteptihle rettete Utes le theft Pet 0.? metete@ .n .Shewe iii Geef .I nlflireeld.mear-ker eietvh. with e testte-.e .trite mattie@ @PF1 t?- le St-:called tette@ mettre' elaeetnes ,web et illestreted int-ls- .1 te@ terse@ ti is @Clement te be netted ,threaten .a number e? plies .of febr-ie ntie@ Summing serieta@ t0 ,0f .the mattina bese en@ the thread 'knotted et e Peint @19W .the Serie?? 2.0 er telers the leweteaet @It .ef :feierte ,ie @teer to prevent accidental withdrawal of the thread when the plies of fabric are removed from support 20. For a clearer understanding of the purposes of such a machine it may be said that in the production of clothing, for instance mens and ladies suits. by the larger tailoring establishments a plurality of plies of fabric are stacked and cut in one operation and, for instance, say in the case of mens coats', it is the practice to mark the several plies while still stacked one upon another with lengths of thread extending through them at various points to denote where buttoms are t be attached or to denote the corners of pockets and other points at which subsequent work is to be performed on the several pieces after they have been separated. In separating the several plies the thread is cut between each two thicknesses of material so that each piece of fabric carries a shortl length of thread at eachof the points mentioned and, as previously indicated, it is desirable to tie a knot in the thread before the piecesof fabric are separated in order to prevent accidental withdrawal of the thread from one or more of the stacked plies of fabric.

The surface 29 on which the plies of fabric are supported constitues the upper wall of a hollow base and the lower or bottom wall of said base is indicated at 2|. Mounted on the upper wall 26 of the base is a bracket arm 22 which projects over the base and has slidably mounted in its upper extremity a plunger 23 depressible by an operating lever 24 to advance needle 25 and thread 26 downwardly and through a needle opening 21 in surface 25. Plunger 23 also has associated therewith a presser foot 28 which engages and holds the goods rmly on the base while the goods are penetrated by the needle. As shown in Fig. 3, the plunger 23 is of tubular formation and slides on a tube 29 rigidly mounted in the bracket arm 22 by a set screw 36, being guided in this sliding movement by a pin 3| carried by said plunger engaging in a slot 32 in tube 29.

Needle 25 is carried on a rod-like needle arm 33 and the latter has its upper end removably secured in a cap 34 threaded in the upper end of plunger 23. Presser foot 28 is carried on the lower end of a tubular member 35 slidably received in the lower end of tube 29. At the upper end of this tube 35 which carries the presser foot there is a collar 35 and attached to said collar is a lug 31 adapted to travel in slot 32 for the purpose of guiding the movement of the presser foot. A coil spring 38 is interposed between collar 36 and the lower end oftube 29 and the second coil spring 39 is interposed between said collar 36 and the plug or cap 34 with the result that when the plunger 23 is depressed by downward movement of the operating lever, spring 38 is compressed between collar 36 and the bottom of the tube and spring 39 is compressed between cap 34 and collar 36. -Thus the two springs become loaded and, when the operating lever 24 is released in its lowermost position, they function to retract the needle from the goods and to return the presser foot and plunger tube 23 to their normal raised positions.

The vertical reciprocatory motion of the plunger tube 23 is compensated for by the operating lever being pivotally attached to the tube, as indicated at 40, and the lever itself is formed with telescoping sections 4|, 42, the latter -being mounted on a pivot pin 43 journaled in an extension 44 of the bracket arm 22. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a gear segment 45 is also mounted on pivot pin 43 and the teeth 46 of said segment engage a gear 41 mounted on a stub shaft 48 journaled in the bracket arm. Shaft 48 carries a second gear 49 which meshes with the teeth 55 of a rack bar 5| slidably secured on the bracket arm by bolts 52 which extend through slots 53 in the rack bar and are threaded in suitable sockets in lthe bracket arm. Rack bar 5| is provided with a downwardly offset depending end 5|a which protrudes through an opening 54 in the upper base wall and attached to the lower end of said depending extension is a rack bar 55 (see also Fig. 4). The teeth 55a of rack bar 55 engage a gear 56 on a shaft 51 mounted in the I" lower base wall and fast with gear 56 is a larger gear 58 so that the gears 56, 58 rotate in unison on shaft 51. Rack bar 55 may be slidably secured in guides59 on the lower base wall 2|. Gear 58 meshes with the teeth 60' of another gear 60 also slidably held on lower base wall 2| by guide brackets 6|. Thus, oscillation or rocking of the operating lever 24 imparts a reciprocatory motion to rack 60 for operating the knot forming mechanisrn which will now be described.

When the thread carrying needle 25 is fully depressed the eye portion thereof is received in a tubular guide 62 mounted on the lower base wall. The upper end of guide 62 is cut away, as at 63, so that the thread 26 may be engaged by a hooked shaped member and pulled into position to be engaged by the knotter jaws. This thread engaging member preferably consists of a hook member 64 pivotally carried on a pin 65 in the outer end of an arm 66 whose opposite end is formed with an enlarged hub portion journaled on a shaft 61 mounted in the base. Where this thread engaging element takes the form of a hook, as shown, the thread is doubled upon itself so that, in a sense, a loop is formed therein but the presence of such a loop is not actually necessary in the knotting of the thread and the loop so formed is not to be confused with the loop which is subsequently produced in the thread in actually forming the knot. The enlarged hub portion of arm 66 is formed or provided with a gear 63 which meshes with a gear 69 on a shaft 1li-and said gear 69 is adapted to be actuated by the teeth of another rack 1| fastened on the upper surface of rack 6U. For purposes which will later appear gear 59 is of the mutilated type .in that for a portion of its periphery it is provided with an extension 69B formed with a flat surface adapted to engage against the staight edge portion 1| a and rack 1| at certain times in the cycle of operation of the knotter in order to lock arm 66 against motion. Referring to Fig. 4, hook 64 and its arm 66 are shown in what is their normal position at which time rack 60 with rack 1| are at the right-hand limit of their movement (as viewed in Fig. 9) and at which time the operating lever will be in its raised position. Fast on the hub of arm 66 is what will be termed the thread shifter 12 which is also shown in its normal position in Fig. 4. Thus, both the thread engaging hook 64 and the thread shifter 12 are normally positioned to one side of the needle guide 52 but. when operating lever 24 is depressed, rack 55, gears 56, 58, and rack 60, together with rack 1|, will be moved in the directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4, and when the teeth of rack 1| actuate gears 69, 68, the thread shifter 12 and the thread engaging hook 64 will be moved to the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 5. When the parts assume their normal positions, as shown in Fig. 4, a dog 13 pivotally mounted on a pin 14 engages the thread engaging hook 64 and rocks the latter on its pivot pin against the tension of a spring 65a. (for a purpose which will later appear) and when rack 1| is moved to the left, as viewed in Fig. 5, dog 13 is swung on its pivot pin under the influence of a spring 1|!a with the result that hook 64 is free to turn on its pivot pin on arm 66 while being moved to the position shown in Fig. 5. This movement of hook 64 to the position shown in Fig. 5 is for the purpose of permitting the hook to catch the thread 26 in the initial portion of the return movement of arm 66 and hook 64 to their normal positions. As the hook 64 approaches the position shown in Fig. 5 it engages a stop 15 which swings or cocks it against the pressure of spring 65 so that the instant arm 66 starts its return movement, the hook will have a slight independent motion of its own to engage and catch the thread.

When the operating lever is released and returns to its normal position hook 64 engages and retains the thread and as the said hook returns to its normal position it pulls a length of the thread past a pair of jaws which constitutepart of the knotter for purposes which will presently appear. The return motion of the thread shifter 12 also causes the length of thread to be positioned at a point where it also can be engaged by said jaws to form a loop therein. The successive positions of the thread at these points in the cycle of operations are illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. The knotting mechanism is of a type capable of tying a bow knot and comprises the two relatively movable jaws 15, 11, the jaw 11 being pivoted at 18 on the other jaw 16 and yieldingly held in closed position by spring 19 attached to jaw 16 which is mounted on a shaft 80 journaled in the base wall 2|. Also mounted on base 2| is a cam 8| which is engaged by cam roller 82 carried on the shank portion of jaw 11, the contour of said cam being such that jaw 11 is rocked on its pivot as the two jaws, with shaft 88, are rocked by a gear 83 on. said shaft engaging the teeth 84 on the adjacent end of rack '60. Normally, the knotter jaws occupy the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 4, but, when the operating lever is depressed, the jaws are revolved in a counter-clockwise direction to the position shown in Fig. 8, ready to start the knot i forming operation. Gear 83 is of the mutilated type having a ilat surface B5 adapted to engage straight edge portions of rack 6U at opposite ends of teeth 84 to hold the knotter jaws against rotation when they occupy the positions in which they are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It will be observed that the relative vertical locations of hook 64, jaws 16, 11, and thread shifter 12, are such that the hook 64, which is positioned in a plane below the jaws, will draw .the thread under the jaws while the shifter 12 is located in a plane above the jaws so as to cause the thread to :be more or less vertically disposed between the jaws and said shifter. In other words, at the time hook B4 and thread shifter 12 have assumed the positions shown in Fig.`5, they are both positioned at the same side, so to speak, of the jaws 16, 11, so that, when these thread engaging members shift to the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 9, at which time the hook 64 and shifter 12 are positioned at opposite sides of the jaws, the thread will extend from hook 64 under the jaws and then upwardly to the point at which it is engaged by the shifter 12, this upwardly extending portion of the thread being ,so positioned as to be engaged by the jaws when is accomplished as follows:

6 the latten are revolvedfas illustrated in Figs. 1U andI 1l.

Assuming the operating lever has been de.-. pressed to its lowermost limit of travel so that the thread has been carried throughithe plies of fabric and the elements described are in the positions illustrated in Fig. 5, and that the lever is then released, the cycle of operations in forming the knot during the return movement of operating lever 2-3 is as follows: During the initial portion. of the return movement of rack bar 60, the teeth of rack 1| actuate gears-69, 68, to move the thread engaging hook 84 and the thread shifter 12 to successive positions illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. At this time, as shown in Fig. 9, rack teeth 84 have engaged gear 83 and started the reverse or clockwise rotation of the knotter jaws 16, 11, and as the jaws continue to so revolve they engage the thread at a point between themselves and the thread shifter 12 so that the thread is wrapped or looped around them, as shown in Figs. 10 and l2, and the jaws are then opened by cam roller 63 passing over the higher portion of cam 8| to receive the thread. This is accomplished by jaw 11 being depressed to a point :below that portion of the thread between hook 64 and the loop of thread formed around the jaws before the revolving jaws reach the limit of their return movement to normal position. Immediately before the jaws reach their no1-mal position, they are closed by cam roller 82 engaging a lower portion of its associated cam surface. The parts are then in the positions shown in Fig. 13 with a portion of the thread formed in a loop around the jaws and the thread between the said loop and the hook 64 gripped in the jaws under the tension of spring 19.Y At this point it will be observed that rack teeth 84 have become disengaged from gear 83 but that the rack 6l) has not yet fully returned to its normal position.

It is during this iinal portion of the return movement of rack 6|) that the last step in the formation of the knot and the freeing of the knotted thread from the jaws is eiected.

A plate |00, which will be called the ejector plate, has an extension ||l| on which is pivoted, at |02, a pawl |03 yieldingly held by a spring |04 against a stop pin |05 on said extension and said pawl normally engages in a detent |66 in rack bar 60 so that the ejector plate is normally held in what might be termed its normal advanced position shown in Fig. 4. However, during depression of the operating lever, the rack bar moves, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, and the ejector plate is retracted by a spring |01 attached to base wall 2| and the ejector plate extension ||i|, under which conditions the pawl |03 is disengaged from detent |06. This retractive movement of the extension and ejector plate is limited by a stop pin |08 so that the plate assumes the position in which it is shown in Figs. 5, 8 and 9. With the plate located in this retracted position, the thread is then moved into position with respect to an edge |89 of said plate by the prevously described return swinging motion of the thread shifter 12, as shown in Figs. 9, 13 and 14. 'In machines of the present type, that is thread marker machines, 'this edge portion, indicated at |89, may be formed by a slot ||0 in the ejector plate (see Fig. 14), said slot being formed with an angularly disposed extension adapted to register with the needle guide 62, so that the needle, with the thread, can pass through the plate when it is forced through the fabric. `During the final por- This s tion ofthe return movement of rack bar 60, pawl |03 reenters detent |06 and as the swinging movement of pawl |03 is limited by pin |05 against which it is yieldingly held by spring |04, the extension and ejector plate |00 are returned to their original normal positions with the result that the ejector plate engages the thread and pulls the loop of thread wrapped around the jaws off of the latter. Thus, the portion of the thread which, at that time, is held between the jaws is pulled through the loop that had previously been wrapped around the jaws. Finally, the ejector plate |00 pulls the thread from between the jaws, the strength of spring l0 being such as to permit this. At the same time, the dog 13 is engaged by the end of rack bar 1| and rocked from the position shown in Fig. 8, which it assumed when said rack bar was retracted by depression of the operating handle, to its normal position shown in Figs. 4 and 14, with the result that hook 64 is rocked on its pivot to disengage the thread therefrom. Thus, the knotter thread is completely freed (see Fig. 14) and the parts have assumed their normal positions, ready for the next cycle of operations.

Fig. 19 shows a modified form of ejector plate in the sense that said plate is not slotted as is the plate |00 illustrated in Figs. 13 and 14. In this modified form of plate indicated at |003, the thread can engage against the edge |00b when the needle penetrates the goods and said thread is shifted to a position against the front edge |00c of said plate by the thread shifter to position the thread in the path of the ejector plate for the purpose of removing it from the knotter.

A further adaptation of the present knotter mechanism is disclosed in Figs. 17 and 18 wherein a package tying machine is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in view of the fact that the knotter mechanism itself is of the same construction as that previously illustrated and described in connection with the thread marker machine of Figs. l to 16. In this so-called package tying machine, the package to be tied is supported on base wall 20 with the cord or other binding element wrapped around it. Preferably, the cord 26a is supplied from a reel or bobbin |50 located above the base and the free end of the cord is adapted to be temporarily anchored, so to speak, below the base. A notched plate |5|, in which the cord is frictionally gripped is shown for this purpose in the present instance. With this arrangement, after the operating lever is depressed, the bundle or package, indicated in dotted lines at |52, is slid on to the base surface 20, during which movement it will engage the cord and the latter will be wrapped around three sides of the package. The cord is then severed at a point above the package to provide an additional length of cord sufficient to be wrapped along the fourth side of the package with this severed end extending downwardly approximately to the plate |5I. The original free end of the cord can then be freed from plate |5| and the knotter actuated as previously described. If-desired, the operator can hold the two ends of the cord loosely in one hand when the depressed operating lever is released, so as to place a slight tension on the cord while the hook 64, shifter 'l2 and jaws '16, 11 are in motion.

The top and bottom plates 20, 2| of the base are recessed at their forward ends as at |53 and the inner ends of these recesses serve to position the cord ends where they will be engaged by hook 64 and shifter 12. Thus, these recessed portions of the base serve the function of positioning the cords in the absence of the thread needle 25, which, together with the tubular needle guide 62, is eliminated in the tying machine. The tying machine also diifers from the marking machine in that the bracket arm 22 is preferably offset rearwardly, instead of overhanging the surface 20 in order to'provide clearance for large packages. Furthermore, the plunger tube 23 of the marking machine is, of course, dispensed with in the tying machine and, for this reason, the operating lever for the tying machine, indicated at 42a, need not be made of telescoping sections. With these exceptions the two machines may be of like construction and operation.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knot tying machine, a pair of rotatable, pivotally associated jaws, a shaft, an arm on said shaft, a thread engaging member on said arm located below said jaws, means for rocking said shaft to move said member in one direction to engage a thread at one side of said jaws and to move said member in the opposite direction to draw the thread past and beneath the jaws to the opposite side of the latter, a second thread engaging member located above and at the rst mentioned side of the jaws, means for revolving the jaws to engage the thread at a point intermediate the jaws and upper thread engaging member to loop the thread around the jaws, means for opening and closing said jaws to grip the thread at a point intermediate the loop and the lower thread engaging member, and a plate movable longitudinally of the jaws and engageable with said thread to remove said loop from around the jaws, and means for maintaining said jaws closed during removal of the loop whereby the thread held between said jaws is drawn through the loop.

2. In a knot tying mechanism, a base, a pair of shafts journaled in said base, a pair of pivotally associated jaws on one shaft, a thread engaging member on the second shaft normally positioned at one side of said jaws in a plane below the latter, means comprising a rack bar for revolving said second shaft in one direction to move said member to the opposite side of the jaws in position to engage a thread and for revolving said member in the opposite direction to draw a thread past and beneath the jaws, a second thread engaging member on said second shaft located at said opposite side of the jaws in a plane above the latter whereby a thread extending between said members will be disposed from the lower member under said jaws and then upwardly to the upper member, a rack bar for revolving said jaws to engage the upwardly dis posed portion of the thread and wrap the same in a loop around the jaws, means for opening and closing the jaws to grip said thread at a point intermediate said loop and the lower thread engaging member, and means operable by one of said rack bars for disengaging said loop from around the jaws while the thread is gripped between the jaws,

3. In a knot tying mechanism, a base, a pair of shafts journaled in said base, a pair of pivotally associated jaws on one shaft, a thread engaging member on the second shaft normally positioned at one side of said jaws in a plane below the latter, means comprising a rack bar for revolving said second shaft in one direction to move said member to the opposite side of the jaws in position to engage a thread and for revolving said member in the opposite direction to draw a thread past and beneath the jaws, a second thread engaging member on said second shaft located at said opposite side of the jaws in aplane above the latter whereby a thread extending between said members will be disposed from the lower member under said jaws and then upwardly to the upper member, a rack bar for revolving said jaws to engage the upwardly disposedportion of the thread and wrap the same in' loop around the jaws, means for opening and closing the jaws to grip said thread at a point intermediate said loop and the lower thread engaging member, a slide movable on said base bywvo'iie of said rack bars, and a plate on said slide engageable with said thread for disengaging saidlloop from around said jaws while the thread is gripped between the jaws. I

RUTH L. DASHEW, Admz'm'stratria: of the Estate of Robert L. Dashew,

Deceased. .if

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 273,089 Hunter Feb. 27, 1883 819,953 Thompson May 8, 1906 1,082,474 Colman Dec. 23, 1913 1,511,366 Rapp et al Oct. 14, 1924 2,009,491 Goldberger July 30,1935 2,182,959 Bunn Dec. 12, 1939 2,367,658 Bunn Jan. 23, 1945 2,374,900 Saxton May 1, 1945 

